


Why Have Power If You Won't Use It?

by SunsetSylveon



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Metaverse (Persona 5), Alternate Universe - Not Human, Alternate Universe - Vampire, I wouldn't know romance if it hit me in the face, Makoto and Haru are dating but it isn't the focus, Slight Goro/Akira, Vampire!Akira
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:48:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26362165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunsetSylveon/pseuds/SunsetSylveon
Summary: The stigma against all non-humans runs deep. It only took a few charismatic humans to convince fearful masses to drive them out centuries ago. While all fae species are largely ignored by the public, vampires have it the worst. The stories and rumors about them are some of the darkest and most horrific of the lot. Morgana was well aware of the dangers behind the humans Akira insisted on hanging out with as he draws more and more indirect attention from the police for 'Joker's' involvement in recent criminal cases.ORAkira wants to make friends in a human-centric world despite an apprehensive Morgana and Akechi wants to prove himself as a detective of justice. He quickly finds use for Akira's skillset that he couldn't have imagined.Rated T for mature themes (it's still Persona 5 after all).
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist, Niijima Makoto/Okumura Haru
Kudos: 63





	1. The Kaneshiro Case

Despite the fact that roughly 1% of the population was thought to be vampires, very few people actually knew anything about them. History was written by the victors; after all it was often easier to depict them as immortal monsters of the night when trying to convince people to drive them from all of society. The stories paint them in such an unflattering light that most people can’t even imagine that they could live near one, opting instead to follow the widespread beliefs that vampires had all been separated from humans somehow. Some even think they’ve gone extinct. It’s hard not to believe the stories when it’s all you’ve ever heard. This made it even more shocking to Akechi when he ended up befriending one. If you had asked the detective even a few months ago what he knew about vampires, ‘bloodthirsty, immoral, dangerous,’ or even ‘murderous’ would be at the top of his list and yet here he was, on the train to Yogen-Jaya, visiting such a creature of his own volition. 

Stepping off the platform onto the quieter streets of Yogen-Jaya, Akechi found himself retracing the same path he always did. If his informant was a creature of the night, he was a creature of habit. He had hardly stepped foot in one of the many forgotten alleyways before the subtle rustling of fabric could be heard above him. 

“Sorry to arrive on such short notice Kurusu-kun,” He announced, seemingly to himself, in hardly more than a whisper amongst the shadows. “I have another job for you and-”

  
“Already?” A soft, almost silky voice called out behind him, biting at the air with an exaggerated whininess. A boy about Akechi’s age wearing a sleeveless fitted vest, black dress pants, and his distinctive leather jacket stood staring at him, a friendly smile adorning his face despite the annoyance in his voice. “So I take it your previous suspect suddenly offered up some information.” 

Across the past couple of months several suspects known for being impossible to link to their crimes had become a lot less careful with removing evidence, seemingly out of nowhere. Be it less precautions taken and simply leaving more for the police at the scene of the crime or confessing to their wrongdoing straight up, the toughest criminals to crack were slowly being faced with justice. 

“Right to the point as always, ‘Joker’. Yes it seems that another criminal has become sloppy in their methods. I’m sure you have nothing to do with this of course.” Akechi said, returning the boy’s familiar smile.

“No of course not,” the vampire responded, leaning against the wall. His quicksilver eyes seemed to shimmer and likely not from the starless night above. “So, what do you have for me?”

Akechi simply hummed an acknowledgement before pulling a careful folded page from his seemingly endless jacket pockets. “Kaneshiro. I’m sure you’ve heard the name before. He’s been a thorn in the side of the police for ages and yet, he remains as elusive as ever.”

“I’ve heard of him. That’s quite a big jump from your previous requests, detective. Most of the people you’ve shown me before now could have been his subordinates.”

“True. However this seems to be your speciality ‘Joker’ so I figured if anyone could handle it, it would be you.”  
‘Joker’ only hummed in response looking up into the sky over their abandoned ally. The city glow was just strong enough to drown out the stars but too weak to illuminate the inkiness above them. “This sounds awfully dangerous, detective. What makes you think I’ll help?”

“You will.”

“Oh? And how can you be so sure?”

Akechi just smiled at the boy in front of him, being met with a resistant smirk instead. He shrugged and put the file back into his jacket. “I suppose I can’t. However I seem to recall something similar happening last time I came to visit; and here we are yet again.”

“Here we are again…” the vampire muttered. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”   


~***~

_ “Junya Kaneshiro was recently taken into police custody after lists of those he was allegedly blackmailing were suddenly leaked. More information is to be released throughout the day, police officials say.” _

“So, they finally caught the guy?” An older man muttered over the counter to the nearly empty cafe. “I heard he was targeting students around your age. You better not have been on that list, kid.”

“I’m glad you have so much faith in me Sojiro.” Akira replied with an amused smile, taking another sip of the coffee that had been offered to him. He placed it down next to his now empty plate, looking back up at the TV. “I’m just glad none of my friends are on his list.” He said, looking down at his cup.

Sojiro nodded in agreement, looking back up at the clock. “You better head out soon if you don’t want to miss your train,” He added, taking Akira’s plate with him back into the kitchen. 

“It should be nice to have a normal day today.” A chipper and much younger sounding voice said. A black and white cat smiled up at the ravenette as he chugged down the rest of his coffee. “I hope Akechi realizes how much you’re going out of your way for him.”

“Kaneshiro was dangerous. I can only protect so many people at a time,” He said quietly, trying not to draw too much attention from his guardian. “My arrangement with Akechi is nothing more than the cherry on top.”

“I will never understand what compels you to spend so much time with humans,” The cat replied, his ears twitching slightly as his simple smile gave little away. However, Akira was quite aware of his familiar’s stance on the issue.

“You’re too careful Morgana. The world has changed since your last partner.” 

“If you say so….” the cat mumbled as Akira picked up his school bag and made his way out of the cafe to greet the world. 

The world seemed to over-enthusiastically greet him too as the sun beating down on his skin caused a wave of fatigue to instantly wash over him. He had to hold back a growl building in his throat as he glanced up at the cloudless sky. 

\-----

_ “Junya Kaneshiro was recently taken into police custody after-” _

“How does this keep happening? This is beyond a simple stroke of luck by now,” A tall, silver-haired woman stated to the younger brunette beside her. “Surely you must be wondering the same thing as me by now, Akechi-kun.”

“Hmm and what do you mean by that Sae-san?” The detective said with a short laugh. 

“All of the sudden master criminals are slipping up left and right. There must be some connections. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now but Kaneshiro is too big of a target to dismiss my theory any further.”

“It does seem a bit too perfect I suppose. Although I don’t see what the issue would be with someone helping to get criminals arrested.” 

“Maybe not yet but I have trouble believing anyone would make this much of a stir out of entirely pure intent. I want you to look into it Akechi-kun.”  
“Me? Are you sure? If your worries are reality then this would be quite the powerful suspect I’d be investigating. Don’t you think we should hold off a bit?” Akechi knew this day would come. Sae-san was a smart woman; there was no way she’d fail to notice such a clear pattern. However Akechi wasn’t about to throw his informant under the bus. Not when the boy was so useful to helping in his cause. 

“No. I’m sure of it.” She almost instantly picked up on Akechi’s unease and her normal business face softened slightly. “Don’t worry I’ll be looking into it too. I can back you up if you need help. But we don’t know what kind of being we’re dealing with here. The sooner we start looking the better.”

That was the opposite of Akechi’s worry. If anything that put his source of information even more at risk. He just nodded and muttered a goodbye before returning back to his work. He’ll have to make sure he compensates Akira well for this job. 


	2. Basically Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira would never ask Goro outright, but he really wishes they could hang out without it being about work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clarify for the future, ~***~ is a time skip and ----- is the same time but in a different location.

“Did you hear about that Kaneshiro guy? It was all over the news this morning!” Ann exclaimed, slamming her hands on Akira’s desk to emphasize her point. “They say he was targeting high schoolers. How crazy is that?”

“Crazy is certainly one way to put it. What an absolute scumbag.”

“Ugh for sure! The fact that people can get away with stuff like this makes me sick!” 

The blond girl in front of him clenched her fist so hard Akira was surprised her nails didn’t go right through her hands. Akira was so thankful for Ann. She was the only one of his friends who knew about him and who he was. Not that he didn’t  **want** to tell the others, but Morgana’s paranoia wasn’t without any reason. With Ann it had been unavoidable. When she told him what Kamoshida had been doing to her that day in Shibuya, he could feel the rage pulsing off of her in bitter waves. He  **had** to help her, despite a certain familiar’s constant protests. Luckily for him, things went better than he could have even imagined. Not only was Ann more than accepting (borderline excited), but it turned out she was only half-human herself. They clicked almost immediately on their mutually poor treatment by the world. Ann had a fire to her that Akira shared. In short, they were best friends.

Akira smiled back at the half-angel in front of him with a glint of knowing in his eyes that she immediately matched. “It makes you wonder what compelled him to turn himself in like that.” 

“Yeah, I can’t imagine how this keeps happening,” she replied, clearly struggling to push down a smirk. 

“Alright everyone sit down; class is starting,” a familiar voice announced. Ann made an exaggerated pout before spinning around and flopping down into her seat, forcing a barely concealed giggle from Akira. Kawakami-san had barely even finished taking the roll before he was distracted by the vibrating of his phone.

**_Ann: Ugh this is so boring_ **

**_Akira: Class literally JUST started_ **

**_Ann: Yeah and I wish it would JUST be over_ **

**_Ann: Are you going to talk to Akechi today?_ **

**_Akira: I was planning on it_ **

**_Akira: Why_ **

**_Akira: Thinking of coming?_ **

**_Ann: Nah I’m planning to see Shiho at the hospital today_ **

**_Ann: Looking forward to seeing him?_ **

**_Akira: Of course. Honestly I wish he’d just hang out with me normally for once_ **

**_Akira: Tell me how it goes with Shiho?_ **

**_Ann: Always. Tell me how it goes with Goro?_ **

**_Akira: Always._ **

**_Ann: :)_ **

**_Akira: :)_ **

**_Akira: Now pay attention_ **

**_Ann: No you._ **

**_Akira: You first_ **

**_Ann: Fine_ **

**_Akira: Fine_ **

“It’s a miracle you two are passing,” Morgana whispered, frowning up at Akira. Despite his face saying otherwise there was no anger in his voice. If anything it was amusement that rang clearest in his words. 

“Yeah, yeah.”

  
  


~***~

“Yo Akira!” A very informal blond shouted down the hall. “Can we hang out today? It’s been forever since we hung out! You, me, and Ann!” 

“Sorry Ryuji but I have a work thing tonight and-”

“You have a work ‘thing’ every night dude! It’s been, what, 4 days in a row that you’ve used that excuse??”

“It’s not…. This is the last day I promise,” Akira muttered, cringing at his own words. He was telling the truth, or at least as much of it as he could, but he did feel kind of guilty for blowing Ryuji off yet again. He wasn’t really sure how he became friends with Ryuji; on the surface their personalities should have been incompatible. Maybe it was how honest and laid-back Ryuji was that he admired, since it was something Akira could never be. Whatever it was they’d managed to get close enough for Akira to feel the weight of Ryuji’s disappointment.

“Yeah it better be! If you don’t get a break after all that, you should really just quit.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” the ravenette nodded. Ryuji seemed to accept this answer, embracing him in a brief side hug before heading off.

Akira continued on his optimized path towards the exit, noticing the familiar form of the class president in his peripheral vision. With minimal concentration he could just make out her muttering “All this time he…. I never…. Didn’t help….” She’d had a similar reaction when a certain gym teacher ended up confessing as well. He’d made a note to talk to her eventually but he never did. He could talk to her now, but he felt weird about doing so after pushing Ryuji away. Besides, he couldn’t just start talking to her right? He’d try again tomorrow when she wasn’t so shaken.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Morgana muttered as if reading his mind. Akira just glared at him and kept walking, not even having realized he’d stopped. 

It was still bright as hell itself outside once he finally made it out. It was a common misconception that the sun was directly damaging to vampires. In reality, it was exhausting. Every moment he walked through the sun’s rays, he felt like an hour’s worth of sleep had been zapped from his body. By the time he made it to the station, he was ready to sleep through the rest of the month. Normally he’d take a nice long nap on days like this, but Akechi seemed to love showing up the moment he started anything else. He wished the detective would just text him or something. He’d offered his number once but the brunette had rejected it for a reason that even Akira’s enhanced hearing couldn’t pick up. 

“Morgana wake me up at the station,” Akira muttered tiredly.

“What no, Akira!” Morgana responded, but Akira was asleep the moment his eyes closed.

**_Ann: Shiho’s doing great!_ **

**_Ann: I wish I could be half as strong as her_ **

**_Ann: Any idea what time you’ll be meeting up with Goro?_ **

**_Ann: Akira?_ **

**_Ann: Are you asleep?_ **

**_Ann: Rip_ **

~***~

Akira hardly had time to get home and change into his ‘Joker’ outfit before the familiar smell of Akechi’s perfume was less than a block away. He wasn’t really sure why he bothered changing anymore; the detective knew his real name after all. If you asked him he’d probably say it was just nice to have a clear separation between work and his personal life. Not that he would mind blurring that separation a bit. He’d never tell the detective outright, but he considered them friends more so than partners. It’d be nice to hang out with him as Akira instead of Joker for once. Morgana climbed up on Akira’s shoulder as he snuck out of the attic window into the late-afternoon light. He snuck his way across the few streets between LeBlanc and their meeting place, careful not to alert any of the few people around to his presence up on the rooftops. Looking down into the familiar alleyway was an even more familiar brunette. Morgana hopped off his shoulder to stand guard as he cleared his throat and put on his most charming smile. 

“Ah, Kurusu-kun. What are you doing up there?” Akechi joked, smiling up at him. Akira jumped down to face Akechi directly, the other boy never looking away. “Your assistance was above and beyond as usual.”

“I try.” Akira shrugged, placing his hands on his hips in a deceptively casual manner while he tried to read Akechi’s expression. He could never tell what was happening behind those plum coloured eyes, though it seemed the detective had a similar idea. The boy was visibly scanning Akira, hardly making any effort to be subtle. “What, expecting flamethrowers?” 

Akechi offered a polite laugh in response before returning to his neutral smile. “I sure hope not, Joker. If I were dead, how would you receive your reward?”

They both knew Akira was hardly motivated by Akechi’s reward system but Akechi seemed adamant about paying him back. He wasn’t about to complain, of course. Takemi-san already helps him out for almost nothing in exchange for data, but he would feel awful not paying her at all. He accepted the money with a simple thanks, somewhat sheepishly shoving it in the inner pocket of his leather tailcoat. 

“You’re so strange, Joker. I may never understand you,” Akechi said, his voice hardly giving anything away about his thoughts. 

“You could.”

“Pardon?”

“You could understand me. You just only talk to me about jobs,” Akira smiled, hoping it wasn’t obvious how sad that reality made him.

Akechi hardly gave any response; just a short nod before returning to watching Akira’s every movement. He finally let out a sigh as if he was satisfied with whatever data he’d collected and offered a more genuine smile. “I appreciate your help as always, Joker. However,” He paused, seemingly choosing his next words carefully. “I have some rather unfortunate news from the office.”

“You aren’t ditching me, are you?” Akira asked, resting his arm against Akechi’s shoulder. The detective hadn’t even noticed him move. 

“The opposite actually. Sae- uh….my co-worker has asked me to help her investigate your methods. Well, not you specifically. I don’t think she has any actual suspects yet. Obviously, I’m not going to arrest my partner. Normally I’d leave it at that but since she’s investigating you as well…. I’m willing to work with you on…. Creating a plan of sorts.” 

“Awww I knew you cared, Goro,” Akira smirked. He now had both arms crossed over Akechi’s shoulder and was smiling up at him from the side. “If you wanted to hang out you could have just said so.” 

“Akechi. Please,” he said firmly. Part of him wanted to push Akira off but he was feeling extra nice today. Plus, he knew the boy would just lean on his other shoulder instead. “Look, I just don’t want to be known as the guy who abandoned his partner, ok? Besides, if you got in trouble you could easily just drag me down with you.”

“Whatever lets you sleep better tonight,” Akira teased. He would never admit how excited he was to hear that the detective wanted to be sorta-maybe-kinda friends with him. “So, does this mean you’ll finally let me give you my number?” 

“....Fine.”

Akira could barely force-down a smile as they exchanged contacts; he had half a mind to text Ann right then and there. She was the only person who understood how big a deal making a friend was for him. They shared in a sort of loneliness solidarity that no one else really matched. 

“I’ll talk to you later then, Goro,” He smiled, as Akechi turned to leave the alleyway. The brunette wasn’t sure if Akira did that solely to annoy him but he had a feeling he’d be hearing his first name a lot more; whether he wanted to or not.

After the detective had left towards the station, Akira made his way back to the attic at LeBlanc. 

“Wait till Ann hears about this Morgana,” He smiles, slipping back in through the attic window. 

“Hears what? That you’re officially being investigated by the police?” He grumbled back. “I told you this was a bad idea!”

“Hears that Akechi and I are now basically friends,” He smiled, all but ignoring his familiar’s input.

“Yeah, yeah. Tell Lady Ann I said ‘hi’ at least.”

“Deal,” Akira said, throwing his tailcoat to the side before unceremoniously collapsing on the bed. 

“Maybe text her in the morning…” The cat muttered, a small smile seeming to briefly grace his face. Before he could even respond, Akira was fast asleep.


	3. Pathways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira thinks about what decisions led him to where he is now.

Akira awoke to a morning so enthusiastically bright that you’d think the sun was giving a motivational speech. Looking over at the time, it was only 7 minutes before his alarm went off anyways. Waking up on such an exhaustingly sunny day was never fun, but the universe had the gall to wake him early as well. He nearly dropped his phone as he lazily swept it up. 

**_Akira: Morning_ **

**_Ann: Ugh why does the sun have to wake up so early_ **

**_Akira: I know I hate it_ **

**_Ann: Think I can just skip school and sleep?_ **

**_Akira: I mean you can sure try_ **

**_Akira: Anyways I met up with Goro last night_ **

**_Ann: And?_ **

**_Akira: Good news and bad news. What do you want first?_ **

**_Ann: Good_ **

**_Akira: He gave me his number :)_ **

**_Akira: ….because the police are investigating us_ **

**_Ann: ??????!!!?!?!_ **

**_Ann: WHAT????_ **

**_Akira: Yeah so uh_ **

**_Akira: He said they aren’t investigating us specifically just the recent confessions_ **

**_Ann: So_ **

**_Ann: Us_ **

**_Akira: Yeah_ **

**_Ann: So what are we going to do?_ **

**_Akira: We’ll figure something out_ **

**_Ann: I mean_ **

**_Ann: We don’t have much of a choice_ **

“You two are smart. I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” a familiar voice commented. “Now if only you’d apply those smarts to schoolwork.”

“Thanks, Morgana.”

“Always,” the cat smiled. He nodded towards the window blasting sunlight into the room beside them. “It looks like today is going to be a rough one. I’d suggest an umbrella but you might stand out too much.”

“I’d stand out more if I fainted from exhaustion,” the ravenette noted, dragging himself out of bed.

“True. Umbrella it is.”

The trip to Shujin was rather uneventful. He got a few odd looks from strangers but it was better than the alternative. It was days like this that made him wish more than anything else that he could be human; free from the stigmas, the rumors, and the sunlight. Akira spent a lot of time thinking about how his life would be different if he’d been born human. Just as his mind was begging to drift into further speculation he felt someone crash into him. Staggering backwards slightly at the impact, his silver eyes met with dark brown ones and bright blond hair. 

“Yo, what’s with the umbrella? You look so gloomy!” Ryuji let out a loud, cheerful laugh at his own comment, as if it was the funniest thing he’d seen in days.

“I- uh…. It’s bright,” Akira forced out, still a bit shaken and now slightly embarrassed.

“Not big on the sun, eh? We can hang out somewhere indoors then. You are free today… right?”

Right; he completely forgot about that. “Yes, no work stuff today,” he replied. 

“Finally! I was starting to worry you’d never escape,” Ryuji said, giving Akira a somewhat sad look as they entered the building. “I’ll see you after school, ok?” 

“Yeah,” he responded plainly, trying to shove his umbrella into his bag without exposing Morgana.

“You sure it’s a good idea to hang out with him?” Morgana whispered; not that anyone could understand him anyways.

“I’ve been pushing it off for a while. Besides, I doubt Ann and I would be able to come up with a plan in one day anyways.”

“If you say so.”

~***~

The school day was rather uneventful from that point on. He didn’t pay much attention during class today; not that he often did on days as sunny as this. Today he was especially distracted though. He could feel that Ann has the same underlying anxiety he did. Even if they stopped now, he doubted the police would just pack up and go home. His mind drifted down the path of what-if, imagining how the present would be if he hadn’t decided to reach out that day in Shibuya’s underground. He could still clearly remember the look of guilt and horror in Ann’s eyes while on the phone that afternoon. The artificial light of the tunnels made her look uncomfortably washed out and pale. It appeared as if all the energy and life had left her body. Looking back, it hadn’t even been an option for him to ignore her. The more she opened up to him, the more they connected on their feeling of displacement within society. It was Morgana’s idea to combine their powers to make Kamoshida confess; a ‘change of heart’ as he called it. Despite being classified as ‘magical,’ vampires actually contain very little innate magical ability. It was from his mother’s side that he had the ability to affect emotions. He couldn’t mind control anyone per say, just change how they feel either currently or regarding a specific memory. Ann could cast a handful of light based spells which were often handy in providing distractions but above all, she was far beyond Akira in physical strength. The ravenette couldn’t begin to imagine how many times over he’d be dead if it weren’t for her protection while he investigated. They made a pretty great pair. 

He’d never have met Akechi either. His fondness for the boy aside, Akechi was infinitely helpful. After taking down Kamoshida, Akira and Ann had made it their goal to create a place where anyone could take refuge and be free of oppression by those in power. This happened to line up perfectly with the goals of a particularly driven detective. Unlike with Ann, he can’t remember how he ended up partnering with Akechi. The detective had mentioned something about Kamoshida while in an interview and mentioned how he’d been working on a case with similar rumors surrounding the suspect. He just couldn’t get any concrete evidence. After that, Joker and Panther were born. Fully costumed, he approached the detective with Panther watching the scene not far away. He introduced himself as wanting to help with his case. All he needed was the name and the detective would either have evidence or proof of innocence. Despite his confident facade, he was shocked that the brunette actually gave it to him. Maybe he was amused by the situation. Akira highly doubted that Akechi actually expected him to deliver. Yet, 10 days later, the detective had a confession from his suspect’s own mouth. 

For about 2 months now they had been working together and yet it felt like a lifetime. Being able to make a difference, even if it was only to a few people a time, was like a dream. This was the path he had taken and he was happy to be on it. As if punctuating his thoughts, he felt the familiar vibration of his phone in his back pocket. 

**_Ryuji: Hey Kira!_ **

**_Ryuji: So I was thinking maybe we could get some ramen after school?_ **

**_Ryuji: I know a great place!_ **

**_Akira: That sounds great actually_ **

**_Ryuji: Great! I’ll meet you at the front gate_ **

Akira would have to make sure he wakes his brain up a bit so the warm soup doesn’t put him to sleep. 

~***~

“So, tell me really, why’ve ya been so busy?” Ryuji asked, shoving noodles into his mouth. The place was a bit noisy for Akira’s taste but it wasn’t anything unbearable. Oddly enough, Ryuji had said almost nothing on the way there. He talked plenty, but it was plenty of nothing. It was as if the blond boy was talking just to fill the air. Perhaps it was his defense for when he felt hurt, as barely shrouded doubt dripped from his deceptively light-hearted words.

“I told you, I’ve been doing work stuff.”

“Work stuff that you won’t describe for the job you won’t tell me about?” 

“Ouch. Straight to the point I see. It’s just….”

“Just…. What?”

“It’s confidential. I’m sorry.”

Ryuji just stared at him for a bit before determining that Akira was telling the truth and revealed a deep sigh that he’d struggled to hold in.

“I just feel left out I guess. Same with Ann. When I ask her what's up she just gives me some vague answer about work,” he said, looking down at his nearly empty bowl. “Do you guys…. Not trust me?”

“It’s not personal, I promise. We aren’t supposed to really tell anyone about it.”

“Wait… ‘we”?” Ryuji realized, barely suppressing a shout as he stared at Akira wide-eyed. “So you and Ann were working together this whole time?!”

“Yeah. We get our work from the same person.” It felt like lying to only give his friend part of the information, so he was hoping to hold off until he could offer the whole story. He couldn’t though, not yet. Especially not without Ann. This was her secret too. 

“Vague as ever,” he responded. It was clear he was still feeling hurt about being left out. 

“Sorry. I wish I could say more.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“Like I said, it’s confidential. At least for now.”

“So you’ll tell me one day then?”

“Yes,” Akira knew he shouldn’t make a promise like that, but he’d gotten himself into this mess following his heart so he might as well follow it out.

They spent the rest of their time together partaking in more nothing conversation. It was hardly early evening by the time he got back to LeBlanc, but Akira had no plans to leave his room any time that day. His mind was heavy with guilt and anxiety. He was happy with the path he’d taken, and yet in just 24 hours he became more aware than ever of how little he could see ahead of him.


	4. Just Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira decides to meet up with Akechi despite Morgana's disapproval.

Morgana had a deep distrust for humans. How could he not? He had been spiritually bound to Akira’s family for hundreds of years now. Not even he could really remember how he ended up as their guardian. After enough time, memories begin to fade. Never people, though. Ever person he’d ever protected he remembered, and he’d seen some fates that would shake even the most battle-hardened veteran. Humans dislike what they don’t understand and how could they understand when they lumped every individual of any ‘monster’ species together as one concept. It was one of his most-hated words,‘Monster’. No amount of re-claiming could remove the bitter taste from his mouth. Why his current companion insisted on spending his time with humans baffled him. At first Morgana figured he was just lonely, but even after meeting someone more like himself, Akira still insisted on hanging out with that Ryuji boy. He worried for Akira; he’s so quick to trust and to care. It’s not his job to force Akira to listen to him, though. All he could do was give advice and offer support. Hopefully Akira would come to his senses; he just hoped it wouldn’t require heartbreak or police capture for him to get there. 

Looking over at the clock hanging in the forgotten LeBlanc attic, Morgana saw that it was nearly noon and Akira still hadn't stirred. He was beginning to wonder if the boy was even asleep. He’d been going to bed earlier the past few days. Akira still managed to get up for school on time, so Morgana had decided not to push the issue. 

“Akira, It’s 11:45. Get up,” he said.

Akira lazily opened his eyes to look up at Morgana. He was clearly tired, but not as much as someone who’d just woken up should be. 

“How long have you been awake?” He asked, with slight worry poking through his calm demeanor.

“A while. Just wasn’t really ready to get up.” 

Morgana frowned slightly at this answer. He considered pushing further questions, but figured it would be better to leave it at that for now.

“So, what are we doing today?”

Akira was silent for several minutes after that. However, it was unclear if he was actually considering his answer, or if he just didn’t want to speak. Eventually the ravenette let out a soft sigh before turning to grab his phone from the nightstand. 

“I think I’m going to contact Akechi. Ann and I aren’t really getting anywhere.” 

While that was true, Morgana would like to argue that they hadn’t really tried. Both teens seemed to be putting off the issue. Still, he held his tongue. The situation was clearly weighing on Akira and he didn’t think pointing out the boy’s avoidance would help much. 

“Are you sure you want to do that?”

“Yes.”

And that was the end of that. 

\-----

Filing wasn’t how Akechi wanted to spend his Saturday morning. He didn’t mind working, but he wanted to do actual work and not just mindless tasks. He did more than enough brain-numbing busy-work in class. If he had known he’d be doing something so boring, he would have just stayed home and worked on schoolwork. At least the fact that he was given such a menial task meant that Sae-san either hadn’t started her investigation or had very little progress on it. It was noon by the time he got everything put away, not that he noticed since he’d been zoned out for most of it. He checked his phone to see a new message from Kurusu-kun. It was only a few minutes old at least and not hours old. He should probably take breaks more often. 

**_Joker: Hey Akechi, I was wondering if we could meet up sometime today?_ **

It might not be a bad idea to talk to him. Say what you want about his working methods, but they were certainly efficient. He had the time and he did promise to stick with the vampire during the investigation. Goro still wasn’t sure if that was the right decision or not but he just couldn’t bring himself to leave his partner high and dry after all the help he’d provided. Besides, a small part of him couldn’t stop thinking of their last interaction.

**“I may never understand you.”**

**“You could.”**

The boy was… curious, to say the least.

**_Goro: Sure. Does the usual place work?_ **

Silence. That surprised him, he’d expected Akira to be the kind of person who texted back seemingly before the message even sent. After several minutes he finally had a response.

**_Joker: I guess_ **

**_Goro: Gee, don’t sound so excited._ **

**_Joker: I kinda hoped we could go somewhere else is all_ **

**_Goro: Why?_ **

**_Joker: I just thought it might be nice_ **

**_Goro: Can you think of a place that wouldn’t allow for evestroppers?_ **

**_Goro: This information is rather confidential Kurusu_ **

**_Joker: Yeah_ **

**_Goro: That’s it? “Yeah”?_ **

**_Joker: The normal place is fine._ **

**_Joker: What time?_ **

**_Goro: I’ll get on the train after lunch. Maybe 2:30?_ **

**_Joker: Ok_ **

\-----

“You’ve got a couple hours then. What do you want to do?” Morgana asked.

“Well first, let’s eat breakfast,” Akira responded. 

He threw on some comfortable clothes and dragged himself into the bathroom downstairs. After he was presentable, he made his way out of LeBlanc, meeting up with Morgana just outside the entrance. 

“So, what do you want to eat?”

Akira didn’t need to eat human food; he could easily survive without it. However, the extra energy from eating was always nice. It also helped that he really liked food. He ended up going to a diner in Shibuya eating a slice of cake for breakfast. One of the few upsides to being a vampire is that you can eat whatever you want when it comes to regular food. Even eating at a rather slow pace, it wasn’t even 1:00pm by the time he was done. This was slowly becoming the slowest 2 ½ hours of his life. He looked over his previous conversation with Akechi again. Akira was really hoping he could have met the detective somewhere more casual; somewhere more friendly. That wasn’t what this was though. It was just a business meeting between partners. 

“You seem down,” Morgana stated. His voice was upbeat and friendly but the knowing eyes he turned to meet seemed to look straight through him. 

“A little,” He agreed.

“I’m sure you know how I feel about you working for this human. I don’t need to tell you how risky it would be to try and get closer with him.”

“I don’t work for him, Morgana. We work together.”

“He gives you assignments and pays you for them. How is that any different from having a boss?”

“It’s different. We’re working towards the same goal. He doesn’t have power over me. We need each other equally.”

Morgana just scratched at his collar a bit, the metal tag clinking against the small moonstone pendant. 

“We should see Tae today. It’s been a while since you ate. Well, since you actually ate that is,” the cat responded. 

Now that he thought about it, he was starting to get fairly hungry. Visiting the clinic wouldn’t be a bad idea. He always looked forward to seeing Takemi, and not just because she sold him food. 

The train ride back to Yogen-Jaya was as quick as the way there. The whole way he was subconsciously fidgeting with his own moonstone pendant, something he often did when he was nervous or unhappy. Yet, for the first time in days, his mind was blank. He made his way to the clinic with nothing but muscle memory, jumping slightly when Takemi greeted him and pulled him back to the real world.

“Are you ok, Kurusu-kun?” She asked.

“Yeah sorry. I’ve just been a little out of it today.”

She nodded and gestured for him to enter the examination room. Luckily, no one else had been in the lobby. He hadn't even checked. 

~***~

His visit hadn’t been anything special. She did some tests, told him he was healthy, asked him a few questions, fed him, and let him go. He was happy to have her. When he first moved to Yogen-Jaya, he had heard there was some ‘weird’ doctor who specialized in non-human care. Tae was a medical genius, so it was a mystery why her waiting room was almost always empty. He considered asking her about it but never had the guts to do so. Tae herself was human, but her efforts towards equal medical care were genuine enough for Morgana to begrudgingly accept her as an ally. He still talked about Tae as an exception more than anything else, but it was something. Akira never got angry at Morgana for his lack of faith in humans. He sometimes became annoyed or frustrated by his familiar, but he understood that Morgana’s fears weren’t entirely irrational. Hopefully one day the cat would change his mind, but since Morgana didn’t push the issue with him, he decided he wouldn’t push it either. 

He sat silently on the roof of a forgotten building. It was some kind of store most likely but it had been closed so long it was hard to tell anymore. The ally below him was flanked by a windowless wall belonging to the house of someone who was rarely home. While it was the perfect place for their meeting, the still, disconnected feeling of the ally left him feeling disant. He checked the time on his phone; 2:34pm. He was really hoping Akechi showed up soon, his thoughts had been extremely tiring recently.

\-----

Akechi nearly ran into the subway doors as he rushed to get off the second the train stopped. It was entirely his own fault he was late too. He’d allowed himself to get distracted and missed the stop the first time around. He rushed into the forgotten alleyway, otherwise indistinguishable from those around it. He must have been sweating because a familiar voice from on the roof greeted him with a blunt “you smell awful.” Joker was lying on his stomach, head in his hands as he looked down at Akechi from over the edge of the rooftop. Despite the otherwise harsh words Akechi could see the concern in the other boy’s quicksilver eyes. 

“If you were going to be late, you could have just told me instead of running,” Akira said firmly, his face still gentle and soft. 

“Sorry,” was all he could say in response. Joker was right, and he hated that. “Are you going to come down, or do you intend to spend our meeting lying on a roof?”

Akira just shrugged, uncrossing his ankles and shifting slightly. 

“Joker, please come down.”

“Well since you asked so nicely,” The vampire responded, pushing himself to his feet and jumping down into the alleyway. 

“So, about the investigation: Do the police have any suspects or even know how many people to look for yet?” 

“You’re so direct. No, I don’t think so. I haven’t been assigned any tasks related to the case despite being a part of it. I don’t think it’s because they’ve become aware of my involvement in the confessions either. My co-worker is a very talented woman but she’s not a great actor. If she was suspicious of me, she’d wear it on her sleeve.”

Joker visibly relaxed at that information. “So how do we keep it that way?”

“Well, we’ll need to find a way to make sure none of this is tied to us-”

“We’re going to pin it on someone?” Akira asked. Several emotions flickered in his eyes. Fear and guilt were the only ones Akechi could identify before Akira returned to a neutral, soft expression.

“Does that idea scare you Kurusu-kun? How interesting… but no, I don’t intend to blame anyone. Instead, I want to make the cases seem unrelated enough that the case is dropped.”

“Oh. That’s smart,” Akira replied flatly.

“Indeed. I have a few questions about your methods though. If we’re going to pull this off I’ll need to understand your abilities.”

“Well, it’s not just me working on these cases for one.”

“Of course you do,” Akechi groaned, rubbing his temples in annoyance. “Right, how many people am I covering for?”

“Just 2 others, and one of them is a cat so I doubt he’ll be a suspect.”

“You work with a cat?”

Akira gives a casual nod in response as if that wasn’t an incredibly bizarre revelation, even within the context of Akira being inhuman.

“I’ll be blunt: Morgana won’t want to talk to you. Panther, however, should be willing to answer any questions you have. She’d probably even meet you in person if you want to.” 

“Why is it that ‘Morgana’ already dislikes me? Are you talking about me behind my back Kurusu-kun?”

“It’s not personal; he’s just trying to do his job. Morgana has been protecting my family for centuries now. He’s basically a familiar but immortal.”

Akechi offers a tired sigh as acknowledgement, brushing his hair out of his face as he tried to file away the new information in his brain. 

“Ok. I think I can manage to cover for your teammates as well then. Two people and a cat shouldn’t be too hard to manage,” he muttered. It was loud enough for Akira to hear, but Akechi knew he was re-assuring himself more than the ravenette. He was in a little deeper than expected, but he’d dealt with complex situations before. “Yeah, that should be fine.”

He looked up at Akira, not even realizing he’d been staring at the floor before. His expression was gentle as always but gave nothing away. 

“To finish answering your initial question,” Akira began. “I can affect emotions; both past and present. I can make people careless and Panther can make them temporarily unlucky. That’s where a lot of your evidence comes from. As for the confessions, those take a bit more digging. Most people of key memories that contribute to their attitudes about the world. If we can figure out what those are, I can change how they feel about those memories.”

“So you can force self-reflections? That’s…”

“I know emotion magic doesn’t seem super useful but if used properly-”

“Amazing,” Akechi said. He had no idea the vampire in front of him had such potent magic. He was half expecting him to just mention some vague intimidation tactics. “I’m impressed, Kurusu-kun. I didn’t know vampires could use magic like that.”

Akira gave him a brief smile before looking away from him. He almost seemed ashamed of something; but who would be ashamed to have power? 

“I can make a group chat, if you want. Me, you, and Panther,” Akira said, clearly trying to change the subject. 

“I would like that,” He said, nodding politely. “I suppose I should be going then. Once I hear from your teammate about their abilities, I’ll contact you both about a plan.” 

He started walking out of the alleyway, only for a red gloved hand to gently grab the back of his jacket. “Joker, use your big boy words if you want something,” he teased, turning slightly to see the other boy giving him a sheepish smile before looking away. 

“Never mind. Forgot what I was going to say,” He said, letting go and spinning around to jump back onto the rooftops. Akechi just stared at where the other boy was seconds ago, infinitely confused. Eventually he shrugged it off as Akira just being Akira and made his way back to the subway station. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to give Akechi and Morgana some more focus since we only really saw how Akira felt in the last chapter. Hopefully I did a good job :)


	5. We've Been Caught

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ann and Akechi meet up and Akira encounters Makoto. Akira then has a very stressful afternoon.

Akechi found himself lying around his apartment for the rest of the day. He’d tried to work on homework but he couldn’t seem to focus. He was still thinking about his interaction with Joker. The disappointed look in the other teen’s eyes was hard to quickly forget. What had he wanted? Also, Joker had a teammate this whole time? He supposed it made sense, if one person was doing all the work towards his requests, he probably should have been more wary of Joker. He was halfway through a bowl of instant ramen when he received a message on his phone. 

**_Joker: Hey_ **

**_Joker: I made the chat_ **

**_Unknown Number: So the other number is Akechi then?_ **

**_Goro: Yes. You’re Panther, correct?_ **

**_Unknown Number: Wow so formal_ **

**_Unknown Number: And yeah I’m Panther_ **

**_Goro: It’s a pleasure to meet you._ **

**_Unknown Number: Thanks_ **

**_Unknown Number: Akira said you would want to talk to me?_ **

**_Goro: Yes. I’d prefer to talk in person if possible._ **

**_Unknown Number: Why so you can analyze me lol_ **

Despite framing it as a joke, it was clear that Panther was no fool either. Not that Akechi had expected them to be. If anything, this would make the process easier for him in the long run. 

**_Goro: More or less._ **

**_Unknown Number: At least you’re honest about it_ **

**_Unknown Number: I’ll be free after school on Monday. There’s a diner in Shibuya that we can meet at._ **

**_Goro: Won’t it be a little strange to meet there with you in costume?_ **

**_Unknown Number: I was just going to wear my normal clothes. Is that a problem?_ **

**_Goro: I suppose not. But if we’re in public I’ll have to be more careful what I say._ **

**_Joker: I’d imagine you do that a lot anyways detective_ **

**_Unknown Number: Don’t worry I won’t say anything too stupid_ **

**_Unknown Number: I’ll send you the address._ **

Goro had forgotten this was a group chat so Kurusu’s comment startled him slightly. The other boy wasn’t wrong. He always had to watch what he said, but not just because he could reveal confidential information. It had been a long time since he’d had anyone to really open up to. He’d spent most of his life giving as little away as possible. After all, the more people knew about him, the closer they’d get, and the more it would hurt if he lost them. Logically he knew that bonds didn’t lead to loss, but humans aren’t entirely logical creatures. It was simply safer for everyone involved if he watched his words. He downed the rest of his ramen and added Panther’s contact. As his mind swiftly switched over to analyzing their conversation, Akechi realized he probably wasn’t going to be getting much work done that night.

~***~

Ann sat alone in a diner booth, pretending to be busy with her phone. Morgana had offered to go with her (more like insisted actually) but she deemed it unnecessary. If Akira trusted him, she did too. Besides, from what she’d heard of Akechi through Akira, it didn’t seem likely that he’d lash out in a public place. Not that protection was the sole reason she wanted to meet at the diner, but it didn’t hurt. After about 10 minutes she saw the detective enter the building, clearly trying his best to mask his hesitance. He hadn’t seemed as guarded when she met him all those weeks ago. Then again she was pretty far away at the time and Akechi was likely very tired. She poked her head out from the booth and beckoned him over to her. He narrowed his eyes slightly but eventually decided to walk over and sit across from her. 

“So, you’re his teammate,” He said plainly, quickly scanning the diner before turning to look at Ann. 

“Takamaki, Ann: Half-Angel,” She’d spent a somewhat embarrassing amount of time deciding how to introduce herself. She ultimately decided that simple and straightforward would be her best option. The detective was likely going to pick apart everything she said. Again, it wasn’t that she distrusted him, but you could never be sure if anyone else was listening. As predicted, Akechi seemed to be analyzing her. “She and Her.”

“Akechi, Goro. Though, you already know that. I’m surprised you gave your full name so willingly. I was expecting to have to request it from you.”

“I figured you would need it given the circumstances. It wouldn’t exactly benefit me to make your life harder.” Not that she was the kind of person to do that anyways, but Akechi didn’t know that, so keeping her statements purely logical was probably her best bet. Hopefully she could maintain that. 

“No, I suppose not,” Akechi said, pushing some of his hair behind his ears. “I was hoping to get some firsthand explanations on angels for a project I’m working on. I appreciate you agreeing to meet me.” 

So Akechi was worried about eavesdroppers as well. Ann was a terrible liar but it looked like Akechi was taking the initiative on that front. 

“I’ll start off with something light. What are your abilities like? What makes you different from regular humans?” 

“To start, I’m quite a lot stronger than a human would be. I’m no bodybuilder, but I can lift about double what my friend can,” She said, nodding slightly to confirm she was talking about Akira. “I can see a fair bit better in the dark, although not as well as a werewolf or vampire. I can fly. So that’s pretty cool.” 

**“So that’s pretty cool.”**

Wow, very eloquent, Ann. Maybe she should have practiced this. She was lucky and hadn’t faced even half of what Akira had. As such, she wasn’t as painfully aware of her differences. She just didn’t think about this stuff as much as he probably was forced to.

“Sorry, this isn’t something I’m used to talking about,” She said somewhat awkwardly. Akechi gave her a silent but understanding nod along with an encouraging smile. 

“My hands can turn into talons. Or rather, my talons can turn into hands. Not a lot of people seem to realize how bird-like pure angels are in their purest form. Luckily, I inherited enough shapeshifting to cover that. Otherwise schoolwork would be a pain,” She giggled, trying to imagine writing a paper with talons, her arm covered in white feathers. “Being able to disguise certain attributes is fairly common amongst magical people. For some it’s downright necessary,” Ann added in a far grimmer tone. 

Akechi frowned slightly at that but nodded anyways. “Speaking of magic, angels are classed as magical, correct? I’d imagine half-angels are as well.”

“We are. Although it’s important to know that that classification doesn’t mean as much as you may think. Vampires are classified as magical but possess almost no natural magic abilities. In contrast, werewolves are considered entirely non-magical despite shape-shifting being a distinctly magical ability. All it really denotes is whether or not they have the ability to act as a power source for casting spells.” 

The brunette detective narrowed his eyes at her, clearly thinking over what she just said. Even if this was entirely new information for him, it shouldn’t have caused such a strong reaction. What was he analyzing exactly? Oh wait, had she contradicted Akira’s statement? He must not have told Akechi the full truth. What should she say here? ‘Don’t worry Akira isn’t a witch,’? That might make him even more suspicious. She didn’t even get a chance to come up with a good answer before Akechi interrupted the silence.

“So, do you possess any abilities then?” He asked politely, not giving anything away about his thoughts. It was unclear if he knew that Ann had caught her own blunder.

“Erm, yes. Aside from being able to fly, if I can touch someone I can make them unlucky. Little things, like tripping over their own feet or have the wind send their papers flying. I can also dazzle people which makes them really out of it. That’s about it though. Just bad luck and flashing light in people’s faces,” she said, laughing somewhat nervously. 

“Well, thank you, Takamaki-chan. This has been very helpful.”

“You’re welcome! Good luck on your project,” Ann smiled. 

Akechi smiled too, though it was hard to tell if it was entirely genuine or not. At that he excused himself from the table and walked a little too quickly towards the door. How badly had she messed up? She was trying to be so careful too. As soon as she was sure Akechi was gone, she pulled out her phone to text Akira.

**_Ann: Aki I may have messed up_ **

**_Akira: ??_ **

**_Ann: I mentioned how vampires are magical but don’t have much magic_ **

**_Ann: He gave me a really suspicious look_ **

**_Ann: What exactly did you tell him before?_ **

**_Akira: I told him about my emotion abilities. That’s about it_ **

**_Akira: He probably thinks I’m a witch or something now huh_ **

**_Ann: Probably_ **

**_Ann: You should really just tell him_ **

**_Ann: He is protecting us after all._ **

**_Akira: I know but I really don’t like people knowing. You’re my best friend and it’s not that I think he’ll hurt me or anything_ **

**_Akira: I just_ **

**_Akira: I dunno_ **

**_Ann: He’s going to ask you about it_ **

**_Akira: Yeah_ **

**_Ann: I’m really sorry_ **

**_Akira: It’s ok. I’m not mad at you_ **

**_Ann: Still. I’m sorry_ **

Ann sighed and paid for the drink she’d been mostly ignoring. That was surprisingly stressful.

\-----

Since Ann was talking with Akechi today, Akira didn’t really have anything to do. He wanted to make sure his schedule was clear in case something happened. Morgana’s paranoia must have been rubbing off on him. He was about to leave the school when he noticed someone watching him out of the corner of his eye. He turned around just in time for her to look back down at her phone. Makoto Niijima; why was she watching him? Akira wasn’t sure if he should even ask. However, he had been wanting to talk to her anyway and kept putting it off. Now was as good a time as any he decided. He tried to approach her as casually as possible, flashing a friendly smile.

“Hello, Niijima-senpai.”

“O-oh, Hello. Kurusu-kun, correct? It’s nice to meet you,” She said, seemingly a bit startled by his approach. 

“Is everything alright?”

She looked him dead in the eyes, causing Akira to look away from pure intimidation. “Actually, I need to ask you something.”

“Hmm?” Akira responded, still not quite meeting her now softening gaze.

“Let’s talk in the student council room. Follow me,” She said, gesturing slightly as she spun around and started down the hall. Once they arrived she had him sit down across from her. Niijima was still staring at him. 

“It’s about the recent confessions. They all started not long after you transferred to Shujin. Quite an odd coincidence isn’t it?”

Akira managed to meet her gaze but didn’t say anything which probably just made her more confident in her deduction. Why did she have to be so intense?

“Well, I asked my girlfriend what could have caused such a thing since I was confident this had to be some kind of magic. You know what she said?”

Akira just shook his head. He didn’t like where this was going. 

“She said that since Kamoshida, the apparent first target, seemed so genuine in his regret, something must have changed in him emotionally. She said she would have been able to tell if an actual spell had been cast on him, and that wasn’t the case. That left us with magical abilities. Very few species have such magic innate to them but it just so happens you fall within that group. At least partially anyways.”

“I-”

“So, a series of confessions and slip-ups from various people that seemingly start with a teacher from our school, around the same time you transferred, were triggered by magic native to your species.”

Akira could feel Morgana glaring at him through his bag. He was in so much trouble.

“You aren’t in trouble.”

“What?” It was more of a statement than a question. Akira hadn’t even realized he was talking out-loud until Niijima nodded curtly.

“We actually were wondering if you could help us. My girlfriend’s father has been doing… a lot of things recently that he claims are for the better of his company. Among other initiatives, he’s trying to force her hand in marriage. He knows fully well that she’s unhappy with the arrangement, but he refuses to call it off. We were hoping maybe you could…. Change that.”

Akira just stared at her in shock. Obviously he had to help, and not just because Niijima could easily blackmail him. Arranged marriage is one thing but forced marriage was another entirely. No one should be made to lose their autonomy like that. 

“Ok.”

“Wait, really?” She said, clearly surprised how easily convinced he was.

“I-I mean,” he backpedaled. “I’ll have to make sure my team is on board with it… but no one should be subjected to that. So yes, I’d be willing to help. If everyone else is ok with it of course!” 

“Good,” she said with a bright smile. “I’d like to stay in contact with you then Kurusu-kun.” She pulled out her phone and they silently exchanged information. Akira was about to put his phone away when he saw a message pop up from Ann. 

**_Ann: Aki I may have messed up_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't manage to imbed this image into the fic but here's a link to a Joker/Panther reference drawing I made. It's not perfect but hopefully it does it's job :) https://imgur.com/2yve6Oc


	6. We'll Figure It Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joker was Akira, so why couldn't Akira always be Joker?

Akira wasn’t entirely sure when Goro would confront him, but he definitely wasn’t expecting to see him at LeBlanc. Given the detective’s reaction, he hadn’t expected to see Akira either. Akechi was the first thing he noticed entering the cafe later that evening. The brunette was just sitting at the counter, staring at him. 

“Um… hi.”

“… Kurusu-kun?” 

“Maybe.”

“You certainly look different without your costume,” Akechi stated, looking down at his coffee. Akira immediately looked around to see if there were any other customers. There was an elderly couple in the corner, but they didn’t seem to be paying attention to him or Goro. Sojiro glanced over at them curiously but said nothing. 

“Y-yeah,” he replied, awkwardly shifting his weight. Akira’s day had been stressful enough already. Couldn’t Akechi have waited till tomorrow to show up? 

The detective hummed in response, looking down at his cup. After standing around for what felt like hours, Akira decided to sit down next to Akechi at the counter, dropping his bag on the floor as gently as he could to not irritate Morgana. 

“I met Takamaki-chan. She seems lovely,” Akechi said, not even trying to hide the fact that he was watching Akira. He knew the question was coming; hopefully the detective would at least attempt to be subtle. Akechi seemed to take him fiddling with his necklace as a form of acknowledgement. 

“She was incredibly cooperative as well; didn’t seem to be hiding anything.” 

So far, not subtle at all. 

“Can we talk about this somewhere else,” he all but whispered. This seemed to startle the detective, but he recovered before Akira could be sure. He let out a deep, exhausted sigh before grabbing his bag. “Meet me upstairs,” he added with slightly more confidence. 

He didn’t bother to see Akechi’s reaction as he was positive he was being searched intensely by the boy behind him. He walked into his bedroom and unenthusiastically let Morgana out of his bag and sat down on his bed.

“This is bad, Akira. He knows where you live now!”

“I know.”

“And he probably knows what school you go to as well, since Ann was wearing her school clothes.”

“To be fair, Ann doesn’t exactly follow the uniform. But yes, I know.”

“You could have just said you worked here or heard of it from a friend. But no, you had to invite him to your room!”

“I know! Morgana!” Realizing he’d shouted at his companion, he offered a brief apologetic smile before looking down at the floor. “Sorry Mona. It’s just… I’m trying.”

“I know you are. I never meant to imply that you weren’t.”

They both looked up at the sound of the door opening. Goro seemed equally hesitant to have this conversation, walking up the stairs very slowly. 

“You closed the door behind you?” Akechi momentarily flinched at his question. He seemed to be just on edge as Akira was. 

“Yes.”

“Right. I think I know what you’re going to ask. Let’s just get this over with.” He’d mumbled that last part, but Akechi still seemed to hear him. The detective visibly scanned the attic before sitting down on his couch.

The bunette was silent for a while but at least he’d stopped searching Akira’s bedroom (perceptibly anyways). “You live here?” He finally said.

“Yes.”

“… Akira…”

“Hm?”

“What are you?”

There it is. The dreaded question. Akira just looked at his feet and fidgeted with his moonstone pendant some more. It perfectly matched the pendant on Morgana’s collar. Morgana who was now viciously glaring at Akechi. 

“I… For the record, I never lied to you. I am a vampire. But as you’ve probably guessed, that’s not all that I am.” 

Akechi nodded contemplatively before noticing the bristling cat on Akira’s bed. “I assume that’s Morgana?”

“Yes.”

“You match,” he said, pointing at the pendants.

“We do indeed.”

“You haven’t answered my question.”

“You might not like the answer.”

“Try me.”

Akira took a deep breath and forced himself to look up at Akechi. He glanced back at Morgana who gave a reluctant nod.

“Kurusu, Akira: Half vampire, half siren.”

Goro just narrowed his eyes, scanning Akira for… something. He wasn’t really sure what. 

“He’s telling the truth,” Morgana hissed. 

“Hopefully I don’t have to explain why I tried to hide it…” the ravenette mumbled. 

Everyone had heard the stories about sirens, how they manipulate people to their deaths. Most human propaganda had traditionally depicted most non-human races as physically dangerous. However, sirens’ innate affinity with emotion magic led to stories about how it was impossible to be far enough away. According to the stories, they didn’t even need to go near someone to put them in danger. Naturally they rose to the top of the list of targets. While violent crimes aimed at sirens had dropped off significantly, that was at least partly because most of them hid it. Not being attacked was a fairly low bar treatment and the fear sirens ran deep within the general populous. That didn’t even get into the stigma of being ‘half-breed.’ There was a reason Morgana had chosen him to bond with out of all his previous companion’s descendants. 

“I… I didn’t even know there were any left,” the detective finally said.

“Yeah. There’s a reason for that,” Morgana said flatly.

“You make it sound like it’s my fault.”

Morgana flicked his tail and laid down on the bed. 

“Mona be nice,” Akira said half-heartedly. He felt so vulnerable. He tried to put himself back into his Joker mindset. Joker wasn’t vulnerable. He was level-headed and quick-witted. Joker was him, so why couldn’t he be Joker?

“He’s right though. Very few of us are in a position to be open about it. I wasn’t hiding it from you specifically; I don’t like to talk to anyone about this. The only people who know are the ones with access to my documents. I’m honestly kind of surprised you didn’t try to look me up, detective.”

“I’m not that nosy, Joker.”

“You don’t have to call me that you know. Especially since I’m not exactly disguised.” ‘I don’t really feel much like Joker right now either,’ he thought. His body language probably conveyed that part for him. 

“Fine; Kurusu-kun. I’m… sorry.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Goro offered a quiet hum as a response, looking down at his hands. 

“While you’re here, we have a request.”

“What?”

“A girl at my school. She asked me to help her with something involving her girlfriend’s father. I told her I’d have to see if everyone else was ok with it. That includes you.”

“So you basically confessed.”

“You weren’t there. Niijima-senpai had a lot of evidence against me. And she has access to my transcript.”

“I’m sorry, did you say Niijima?”

“Niijima, Makoto. She’s the student council president.”

“Kurusu this is bad. My co-worker who asked me to investigate you? Niijima, Sae.” 

Akira could feel the colour drain from his face. Even Morgana was shaken, and he wasn’t easily swayed. 

“Well… we don’t know for sure that they’re related. A-and she specifically said I ‘wasn’t in trouble.’ She seemed like she genuinely wanted help!”

“I can confirm that much. Her girlfriend is in a pretty rotten situation it seems,” Morgana chimed in. “That does NOT mean I think this is a good idea, by the way.”

“I can ask Sae-san if she has any family. If she gets suspicious I can just tell her ‘a friend goes to school with her,’ which would technically be true.”

‘A friend.’ Akira should not have been so happy to hear that, especially given the conversation up until this point. He couldn’t help but smile, which Akechi raised an eyebrow at immediately.

“You uh… you said we were friends.”

“Oh my god, Kurusu,” Akechi laughed. It wasn't a mocking laugh, but more so one of disbelief. “If I had known you were so sentimental…”

“Anyways, what do you want me to do?”

“Nothing yet; just go straight home after school. I’ll talk to Sae tomorrow and we can discuss the results with Takamaki-chan.”

“Ok.”

“Also, why do you live above a cafe.”

“Ah-long story.”

“Fine, fine. You’ve shared more than enough. I’m honestly not sure I could handle much more information today. I’ll see you later then Kurusu-kun.”

“Bye detective~” 

“Ah, there’s Joker,” Akechi laughed. 

He left quickly after that but not in the same awkward way he’d arrived. He’d called them friends. Akira largely considered that a success. He deserved one after how hard the last few hours had been for him. He needed a break from thinking. 

“You’re smiling. Today did not go well. You know that, right?”

“Believe me, I’m painfully aware. I’m pretty sure if I think about it anymore, I’ll deflate.”

“Deflate?”

“From lack of energy,” he clarified. 

“That still barely makes sense, but I guess you’re taking care of yourself? This is a first…”

“Whatever, I think I’m done with today. You can chew me out in the morning.”

“Hmm I look forward to it.”

~***~

He did, in fact, get an earful from Morgana the next morning. The ranting started before Akira could even turn his alarm off. Despite the fact that he tried to move about the school as little as possible, he felt like he was being watched every time he left his classroom. He’d updated Ann on the situation during his ride to school and told her to talk to him as little as possible during the day. School was even more excruciating now that he couldn’t chat with her. Morgana suggested he use this chance to actually pay attention for once. It wasn’t like he never tried in school. No matter what environment he was, he just couldn’t bring himself to care. He could have the best teacher on earth that he wanted more than anything to be friends with, and he still wouldn’t pay much attention in their class. The material wasn’t even that bad either. He liked to learn, but he just couldn’t seem to do so in school. Luckily, he was good at taking tests so he managed to get away with his inattentiveness as a slightly below average student. He tried to listen to the lecture today but everything went in one ear and out the other. He couldn’t even remember what the lecture was on by the end of it. He considered taking notes, but in the end he couldn’t be bothered. He ended up with a page full of doodles by the end of the day and no more knowledge than he’d entered with. He wondered if Akechi was any good at school. He certainly couldn’t be worse than him, Ann, or Ryuji. Since he basically had to learn all his lessons again, it was dark out by the time he finished his assignments. 

“Hey, you finished everything. Good job,” Morgana said encouragingly. 

He smiled wearily and flipped his phone over on his desk to reveal a ton of missed texts.

**_GorOwO: Hello everyone. I talked to Sae-san. Panther, I assume Kurusu filled you in already?_ **

**_Ann: yeah he did_ **

**_Ann: We were on our best behavior all day and everything_ **

**_Ann: It was not easy_ **

**_GorOwO: She said that she had a little sister named Makoto._ **

**_GorOwO: I highly doubt it’s a different Makoto._ **

**_Ann: Yeah probably not_ **

**_Ann: So, should we accept? You’re basically our manager_ **

**_GorOwO: Joker, what do you have to say about this?_ **

**_Ann: He’s not answering me privately either._ **

**_Ann: Maybe he’s asleep? It’s not that sunny today though_ **

**_GorOwO: I’ll leave my opinion for him to review later then. Considering Makoto already knows what we’re doing to some extent, it would probably be safer for us to help her. Both because it would be the nice thing to do, and because it would allow us to gain her favor. That might make her less likely to report your exploits to her sister._ **

**_GorOwO: It might be a good idea to set that as your terms for helping her, actually._ **

**_Ann: That feels… manipulative._ **

**_GorOwO: Do you have a better idea?_ **

**_Ann: No. But I’m helping because it’s the right thing to do. Not the other part!_ ** **_  
_**

**_GorOwO: Fine by me._ **

**_-_ **

**_Akira: Guys I’m so sorry I was doing homework_ **

**_Ann: Wow really_ **

**_Akira: I’d like to not fail thank you_ **

**_GorOwO: Are you close to failing?_ **

**_Akira: uh_ **

**_Ann: uh_ **

**_Akira: Maybe_ **

**_Ann: It’s not our fault teachers make no sense_ **

**_Akira: Yeah most of that time was spent trying to figure out what the lesson was_ **

**_GorOwO: That’s going to be a problem. You both need to stay under the radar for this to work._ **

**_Akira: You already have a plan?_ **

**_GorOwO: Not much of one but I know you’ll have to keep your heads down._ **

**_Ann: I hate to break it to you, but blending in was never either of our specialties_ **

**_GorOwO: I’ve noticed._ **

**_Akira: So you think it should be safe to accept her request?_ **

**_GorOwO: I’d say so._ **

**_Akira: Ok cool I’ll text her now._ **

**_Akira: Hi, Niijima-senpai? It’s Kurusu._ **

**_Niijima: Hello Kurusu_ **

**_Akira: I talked to my team. We’re going to help you._ **

**_Niijima: That’s great news! I’ll tell Haru now!_ **

**_Akira: Is Haru your girlfriend?_ **

**_Niijima: Yes she is. I probably should have just said that._ **

**_Akira: Anyway, one of my teammates has requested something in return…_ **

**_Niijima: So I take it you’re already aware my sister is involved in your investigation?_ **

**_Akira: Maybe_ **

**_Niijima: Don’t worry I won’t tell her anything_ **

**_Akira: Thank you_ **

**_Niijima: Don’t mention it. It’s the least I can do in return. Can we meet you somewhere tomorrow?_ **

**_Akira: I’ll ask_ **

**_Akira: She said she won’t tell and she wants to know where we should meet tomorrow_ **

**_Ann: Why not LeBlanc?_ **

**_Akira: Morgana might kill me if I let more people into my room_ **

**_Ann: Any ideas then_ **

**_Ann: What about the school rooftop?_ **

**_Akira: Akechi doesn’t go to our school_ **

**_GorOwO: I don’t have to be there. You clearly haven’t needed my help with this before._ **

**_GorOwO: Just fill me in on everything after._ **

**_Akira: How about the rooftop? We can meet up during lunch._ **

**_Niijima: Ok._ **

**_Akira: She said ok_ **

**_Akira: We’ll meet her at lunch_ **

**_Ann: K_ **

**_GorOwO: Be careful._ **

“Sounds like you have quite the day tomorrow,” Morgana said. “It’s getting pretty late, we should go to bed.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“If it means anything, I don’t think this is safe but… I… I do think you’re doing the right thing. Not just with Niijima. In general.”

That caught Akira off guard. His familiar turned around and walked over to the bed. Despite his casual attitude, Akira knew that must have been hard for him to say. “Thanks, Mona. Really, that means a lot.” 

~***~

Akira slept like a rock after that. He woke up from his dreamless sleep to yet another boring day at school. At least he could talk to Ann in class again since he wasn’t trying to hide from Niijima today. Speaking of which, she was already waiting patiently for them when Ann and Akira arrived at the rooftop later that day. It wasn’t like they were speeding down the halls to get there, but they hadn’t walked that slowly. Next to her was a girl with fluffy, light brown hair down to her shoulders. She was wearing a big pink sweater over her uniform. They all sat down amongst the discarded chairs and desks, forming a makeshift meeting table in the process. For a while they ate together in silence, all of them occasionally glancing up at the others or catching someone else glancing at them. Eventually, Makoto broke the silence.

“You eat, Kurusu-kun?” She was clearly trying to lighten the mood that was weighing on them all. 

“Yeah. The energy is nice and I like how it tastes,” He shrugged. 

“This is getting unbearable,” Ann all but wined. She released a deep breath that they’d all been holding in before continuing. “We want to help you. How do we do that?” 

“Right, I suppose we should cut straight to the point. Haru, would you do the honors?” Niijima smiled, reaching out to hold her girlfriend’s hand. 

“Y-yeah. I’m Okumura, Haru. You can call me Haru if you want. I don’t really want to use my father’s name right now…” 

They all nodded sympathetically as Morgana poked his head slightly out of the bag to observe the situation better.

“As Mako already told you, my father has decided to arrange for me to be married to a man named Sugimura. Father said the arrangement would help him branch out into the political world… I tried to ignore it at first but my father’s… changed,” Haru stated slowly. She was clearly choosing her words carefully to be as gentle as possible. Akira supposed he could relate to her on that front. He knew the mindset well; being as inoffensive as possible. 

“Father doesn’t know I’m dating Mako, but he is aware that… Sugimura-kun doesn’t exactly treat me… the best. I’ve tried to confront him about it but he always says the same thing: ‘it’s for the company. You’re an Okumura, now play the part.’”

“That’s terrible Haru-chan!” Ann shouted. “How long has this been happening?”

“The arrangement or his, erm, changes…?” Haru asked meekly.

“Both. We need to know what timeframe this was in so we can decide which memories to effect,” Akira added, nodding encouragingly.

“So that’s how you do it,” Makoto muttered.

“A-about a year now. Since he seemed to change I mean. That I’ve noticed anyways.” Haru frowned at that thought. “We’ve been engaged for 3 months now.”

“Did anything remarkable happen that made you notice the change?” They needed as much information as possible. Changing how someone views their memories was not easy. He was likely not the first to attempt it, but it certainly wasn’t how his magic was meant to be used. Manipulating magic was dangerous and exhausting. He was lucky he had Morgana. Having been with his family for so long, Morgana was extensively knowledgeable on siren magic. Even with training the cost of such magic was heavy so he’d like to use it as little as possible. They’d been trying to force confessions only when they couldn’t think of any other way to get evidence. Here, however, they had all the evidence they wanted and it was useless. 

“No. I more so noticed it through reflection once my father ignored my input on the marriage.” 

“That might be a good place to start.” Everyone nearly jumped at the voice from Akira’s bag. Morgana jumped up onto the table calmly and waited for everyone to calm down.

“I forgot you were here Mona. You’re so quiet!” Ann announced, laughing apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it, Lady Ann,” Morgana responded with a flick of his tail.

“You’re very magical, aren’t you?” Haru mused.

“Morgana. It’s nice to meet you Haru-chan. Niijima-chan.” He nodded at the respective girls. “If Akira can make him remorseful of how he’s treated you, that may trigger a change in attitude towards other parts of his life. If not, we’ll have to figure something else out.”

“So you can do it then? You can make my father have a ‘change of heart’?!” Haru cheered. She nearly jumped out of her seat before returning to her more subdued demeanor. 

“In theory,” Ann added hesitantly. 

“We have to at least try,” Akira added firmly. “We can’t exactly leave the situation be.”

“Thank you! Thank you!” Haru was beaming so bright that Akira was surprised it wasn’t exhausting him like the sun. 

“Do you need us to do anything else?” Makoto inquired.

“Ah, yes. If possible, we need to get somewhat close to Okumura-san.” He can only affect memories up close. Otherwise, the emotions were too vague and fuzzy to be matched to a coherent memory. If possible, he’d want to make eye contact, but that might be too much to ask.

“Ah, right. Emotion spells are stronger when you can clearly see or touch the target. I’d imagine emotion abilities are the same.”

“You know a lot about magic Haru-chan. Are you a witch by any chance?” Morgana asked. The question was likely more for confirmation as Akira had made the same guess.

“O-oh yes. I probably should have disclosed that, huh?” She giggled nervously, but then appeared to remember who her company was and relaxed slightly. “My father usually gets home from work early on Fridays. I realize that 2 days isn’t a lot of time to prepare so we can do it next week if-”

“This week will be fine. We don’t actually prepare that much,” Ann insisted. “Besides, the sooner we can get you out of this the better.”

“Ann’s right. This Friday will be fine. That is, if you can come up with an excuse to have us over by then,” he confirmed.

“I can just say that you’re studying with me and Mako. He shouldn’t be too suspicious of that. How long will it take you to cast?”

“It depends. Shouldn’t be more than a minute. I just need to be able to see him the whole time; he doesn’t have to look at me.” 

“Alright. Just meet me and Mako after school on Friday. That includes Ann and Morgana if they want.”

“Considering you won’t be disguised for this, Lady Ann and I should definitely come in case something goes wrong.” Morgana clearly wasn’t going to take no as an answer. 

“Agreed. Sorry Aki, looks like you can’t escape us!”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Akira smiled. “Thank you, Haru. Hopefully your time won’t have been wasted on us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the Akira in the story had social stats, it would be something like:  
> Knowledge (1), Guts (2), Proficiency (3), Kindness (4), Charm (1).  
> As Joker he'd get a +1 to Guts and Charm since he's more confident when in costume.
> 
> Also, yes, I do think he's the type of person to give Akechi a stupid nickname as his contact.


	7. Haru's Rope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haru and Akira ask a lot of questions.

With relief just around the corner, Haru’s next few days felt especially distant and lonely. For nearly a year she’s felt herself slipping farther and farther from the sun. She was sinking into helplessness as cold and dark as a soundless winter night. At first the progression was slow. She had hardly even realized she’d been falling until the edge of the pit was high enough for her to trip over. Even still, she was able to stand back up. Some days it even felt like she was able to leave the pit entirely. Usually those were the days she spent with Makoto. Mako-chan was always around to hold her steady and lift her out. That was until the arrangement. Over the course of just 3 months she’d fallen so far that Makoto could no longer reach. When she’d first confronted her father, the pit was only waist deep. She just needed an extra hand to help pull her out of it. But he hadn’t given her his hand. His rejection had turned the pit from one of dirt to one of quicksand, plunging her into the darkness. It felt like she was standing on ice so thin it could rival paper and so slippery that water parks would be jealous. To stand against her father felt like climbing to the top of a burning building, knowing the remaining supports would soon give in and she would be plunged into the ashes. Makoto had tried to pull her from her quicksand tomb, throwing down a rope strong enough to pull up an elephant. Makoto’s strength wasn’t enough though, as Haru always felt like she was sinking faster than she could climb, as if something was pushing her back down. It was then that she realized what she had in common with her father: stubbornness. Sure, she had accepted help from Mako-chan, but she refused to reach out further. Haru couldn’t bear the risk of them falling in with her. She wasn’t sure she even wanted help because she was so determined to believe the situation was hopeless. The day she finally confessed how far she'd fallen to her horrified girlfriend was the same day she confessed it to herself. 

Haru made the decision to ask for help; a decision that now involved the tears of her reflection as she recited her lines to the moonlight. Tears poured from the empty brown eyes of her double so silently that Haru thought she might be hallucinating until she reached up to feel the dampness of her skin. Why was she crying? When did she start? Were her eyes always so dull? If she didn’t know better, she’d think she was looking at an entirely different person instead of a mirror image. She recited her singular decree over and over like a broken record; more tears falling with each repeat. 

‘Father, I want to talk to you about my fiance,’ quickly morphed into a series of incoherent rambles as she lowered her gaze from the vacant stare of her reflection.

“Father… about my fiance.”

“I want to talk. To you.”

“About my…”

“Father… I want… Father.”

“I…”

She must have looked like a ghost, standing motionlessly in her bedroom, moonlight illuminating the uniform that she hadn’t been bothered to change out of. 

“Father.”

She couldn’t tell if she was still speaking or if the words were stuck within her mind. Forcefully pulling herself back into reality, she realized the tears had stopped. When had they stopped? How long had she cried for? Had her eyes always looked so bright?

“Father, I want to talk to you about my fiance.”

The words were perfect and steady. They were in her voice, too. Was this the first time she’d said it so confidently? Was that really her voice?

“Father, I want to talk to you about my fiance.”

She heard it again. Without a shadow of a doubt, the voice was hers. For the first time in weeks Haru could feel herself gripping onto the rope.

\---

The following days were rather uneventful for Akira. He could have sworn Akechi was concerned for them after hearing they took a job on such short notice. The detective had hardly offered any input, though. This would mark the first time he’d evoked a ‘change of heart’ out of costume since Kamoshida. It was fitting, he supposed, that they were helping a fellow student as themselves once again. 

He felt like he should feel nervous about the upcoming confrontation, but he wasn’t. Perhaps he’d become somewhat desensitized from working for Akechi. Maybe the problem was that Haru’s family didn’t affect him. Even considering the latter option filled him with guilt. Akira didn’t want to think he’d become so distant from people. He had founded the Phantom Thieves around helping others despite Morgana’s protests against him meddling in human affairs. Then again, was it despite Morgana or in spite of him that Akira had agreed to continue Phantom Thief work past Kamoshida? Outside of Ann, Morgana, and maybe Takemi, who was he close to? Akechi? Despite his best efforts, the detective seemed hardly interested in him outside of work. Ryuji? He’s wracked with guilt whenever they interact. Instead of consulting anyone about these questions, Akira deemed it far more practical to think as little as possible and to allow the remaining days to play on fast forward. 

That Friday afternoon, they met up with Niijima and Haru as casually as they could muster, hoping no one around them could sense the stagnant anxiety emanating from three of the four teens. 

Once they arrived at Haru’s house, they all spread out their school books, surrounding themselves in a ring of papers and pages as if creating a forcefield of homework. Luckily, none of the home staff commented on their behavior as they all pretended to be absorbed in their studies. The tension in the room was strong enough that it was starting to give him a headache. By the time Okumura-san had made it home, they had stress-eaten enough snacks to feed 10 people. Niijima gave a reassuring nod to her girlfriend who let out a shaky breath. 

“You practiced this. You can do it. I know you can,” She whispered. 

Haru responded with a hesitant nod as her father was quickly reaching the edge of the room. “F-father?”

Akira could almost feel her shaking, but she stood up gracefully, looking her father in the eyes. 

“What is it Haru?”

“I… wanted to talk to you about....”

“Don’t mutter Haru. You look like a fool and in front of your friends even! This is rather improper of you Haru.” He said, turning his back to the table they had conquered in the living room. 

“Father.”

“What?” 

“Father I… I want to talk to you about my fiance.”

Akira turned towards the grumpy man who was now stoically staring down his daughter and tried to focus. Okumura-san was still speaking but Akira had tuned him out. Luckily the memory was right at the surface, thanks to Haru. Annoyance was the first emotion to present itself. Annoyance that Haru wouldn’t just comply. Searching through one's emotions was like trying to swim through a sea of gelatin. His body felt numb as he transferred all of his energy into searching for something he could use. Finally, he landed on apathy. As vile as it was, Okumura’s apathy was the main emotion he felt towards his future son-in-law. That was what Akira would strike. He focused on the emotion’s aura; dull and passive. He started to shape it in his mind. If it were brighter, sharper perhaps. No matter what he did, Akira could quite touch it despite the memory of Haru’s previous attempt to confront him being so close to the surface. Suddenly he was aware of rage beginning to rush through Okumura’s conscience. The memory began to take on a life of its own, glowing and boiling over. If he could just fuse the emotions to his memories of Haru’s fiance, he should be able to enact a change of heart. The emotions were becoming uncontrollable, not just from Okumura-san’s but from Haru now as well. He could feel her magic flaring up within the room alongside her emotions. Her steadfast rage poured off of her in waves of magical energy. The emotions from Okumura-san’s direction began shifting. Haru’s rage was fusing with her father’s. All Akira had to do was create an opening in the emotion to let it pour into Okumura-san’s heart once and for all. By the time he returned to the real world, the adrenaline in the room was nearly deafening.

\---

Time had caught up with her. Her father was now walking past the living room in what seemed like slow motion. Every passing moment she could feel the opportunity fleeting from her grasp. She wasn’t going to let go of her father; she was going to hold onto the rope. 

She pulled in a suffocating breathe and released in a shaking exhale. She could tell Mako-chan was trying to comfort her but she couldn’t hear it. She shook herself back to earth with a hesitant nod, standing with grace the startled even herself.

Her body was shaking so much it could have caused an earthquake but she couldn’t feel it. All she could do was hope the words she’d practiced so many times over fell from her lips now as they did mere hours ago. 

“F-father?”

“What is it Haru?”

“I… wanted to talk to you about....”

Her father’s stern gaze would have turned her to stone was she not already numb to reality. 

“I… wanted to talk to you about....”

“Don’t mutter Haru. You look like a fool and in front of your friends even! This is rather improper of you Haru.” He said, turning his back to the table they had conquered in the living room. Time had slowed to a near standstill as the words tumbled aimlessly from her autonomous mouth. She wasn’t going to be erased. Haru was tired of living in the darkness. With one final push she realized she’d been looking her father dead in the eyes as the fog she didn’t realize had been clouding her senses immediately dissipated.

“Father,”

“What?” 

“I want to talk to you about my fiance.”

“Right now?” His voice was heavy and cold as stone.

“Yes.”

“Haru, I really don’t have time for th-”

“You claim this marriage is for the benefit of the company… but who does it benefit? You! Only you!”

She was angry? When had that happened? She’d never agreed so much with words she’d said herself as whatever barrier was left within her rebellious voice shattered. 

“Haru this is highly-”

“I don’t care if it’s professional or not! You won’t reason with me no matter who I’m with. You won’t reason at all! I am no longer you subservient puppet. I am no longer an ornament to your image. I refuse to be sold off like livestock!”

She could see the rage twisting her father’s face. His eyes looked like they might set themselves ablaze. She couldn’t tell if it was her words or Akira’s spell but she refused to let herself flinch. Running on adrenaline and indignance alone she held his eyes. Her body no longer left numb but instead weightless. It felt like she was finally leaving the darkness. When her father froze suddenly, she could feel the anger drain from his face as it was replaced with disgust. She became aware that he was now crying just like her own reflection had been. 

“You….”

“Yes, Father?” She said, mimicking his threatening stare despite her mockingly sacrine voice.

“I’m… sorry.”

“I-I’m sorry, Haru. I’ve been ignoring it up until now. No, worse than ignoring it, I noticed I just didn’t care.”

“But suddenly… I can’t believe I let him hurt you.”

“It… worked.” 

She muttered, finally back in control of her voice. She only had a moment to be aware of her exhaustion from what she could only assume was magical drain, before her father muttered the sentence she’d stayed up all night hoping to hear.

“You’re my daughter not a bargaining chip. I’ll… re-evaluate… the contract.” 

She had finally reached the top of the pit, and her father had actually been there to offer her his hand. The ground beneath her felt solid again, because she had accepted the rope. She wasn’t going to ever feel like that again. From now on, she was going to make sure the rope stayed tied around her waist, where she could always be pulled up or offer it to someone else. 

“Good. You should do that,” She said. Her voice was clear as the air after rain. She was free. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long hiatus! I cannot promise a consistent update schedule between the mess that is the world right now compiled with my usual problems but I promise I have not forgotten!


End file.
